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The 1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 5, 1996, and was part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. The major contenders were incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican Senator from Kansas Bob Dole, with Reform Party candidate Ross Perot – listed as an "Independent" in New Jersey – running a distant third.
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New Jersey voted decisively to re-elect Democrat Bill Clinton, giving him 53.72% of the vote over Republican Bob Dole's 35.86%, a margin of 17.86%. This double-digit win indicated a major shift in New Jersey politics toward the Democratic Party. As recently as the 1980s, Republican presidential candidates had easily carried the state by double-digit margins. In 1992, Bill Clinton had won the state with a narrow 43-41 plurality over George H. W. Bush, however, the state was still 3% more Republican than the nation at large. However, in 1996, New Jersey voted 9.33% more Democratic than the rest of the nation, which represented the first time the state voted more Democratic than the nation since 1964 and only the third time since 1904, and a distinction the state has held ever since.
As in neighboring New York and many other states, Clinton in 1996 drastically improved his electoral performance among suburban voters, a key voting bloc in New Jersey. Following this election, New Jersey has become a reliable blue state in presidential elections, not being seriously contested by Republicans since. Despite this, Dole is currently the only Republican to fail to garner 40 percent of the New Jersey ballot since Barry Goldwater in 1964.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that Cape May and Ocean Counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.
| 1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | ||
| Democratic | Bill Clinton (incumbent) | 1,652,329 | 53.72% | 15 | ||
| Republican | Bob Dole | 1,103,078 | 35.86% | 0 | ||
| Independent | Ross Perot | 262,134 | 8.52% | 0 | ||
| Green | Ralph Nader | 32,465 | 1.06% | 0 | ||
| Libertarian | Harry Browne | 14,763 | 0.48% | 0 | ||
| Natural Law | John Hagelin | 3,887 | 0.13% | 0 | ||
| Constitution | Howard Phillips | 3,440 | 0.11% | 0 | ||
| Socialist Workers | James Harris | 1,837 | 0.06% | 0 | ||
| Workers World | Monica Moorehead | 1,337 | 0.04% | 0 | ||
| Socialist Equality | Jerome White | 537 | 0.02% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 3,075,807 | 100.00% | 15 | |||
| Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 51%/71% | |||||
| County | Bill Clinton Democratic |
Bob Dole Republican |
Ross Perot Independent |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Atlantic | 44,434 | 53.15% | 29,538 | 35.33% | 8,261 | 9.88% | 1,368 | 1.64% | 14,896 | 17.82% | 83,601 |
| Bergen | 191,085 | 52.66% | 141,164 | 38.90% | 25,512 | 7.03% | 5,126 | 1.41% | 49,921 | 13.76% | 362,887 |
| Burlington | 85,086 | 51.94% | 57,337 | 35.00% | 18,407 | 11.24% | 2,979 | 1.82% | 27,749 | 16.94% | 163,809 |
| Camden | 114,962 | 60.59% | 52,791 | 27.83% | 17,433 | 9.19% | 4,537 | 2.39% | 62,171 | 32.76% | 189,723 |
| Cape May | 19,849 | 44.07% | 19,357 | 42.98% | 4,978 | 11.05% | 852 | 1.89% | 492 | 1.09% | 45,036 |
| Cumberland | 25,444 | 54.68% | 14,744 | 31.69% | 5,348 | 11.49% | 997 | 2.14% | 10,700 | 22.99% | 46,533 |
| Essex | 175,368 | 68.99% | 65,162 | 25.63% | 9,513 | 3.74% | 4,153 | 1.63% | 110,206 | 43.36% | 254,196 |
| Gloucester | 51,915 | 51.66% | 32,116 | 31.96% | 14,361 | 14.29% | 2,103 | 2.09% | 19,799 | 19.70% | 100,495 |
| Hudson | 116,121 | 69.95% | 38,288 | 23.06% | 8,965 | 5.40% | 2,635 | 1.59% | 77,833 | 46.89% | 166,009 |
| Hunterdon | 18,446 | 35.66% | 26,379 | 51.00% | 5,686 | 10.99% | 1,216 | 2.35% | -7,933 | -15.34% | 51,727 |
| Mercer | 77,641 | 58.94% | 40,559 | 30.79% | 10,536 | 8.00% | 2,990 | 2.27% | 37,082 | 28.15% | 131,726 |
| Middlesex | 145,201 | 56.20% | 82,433 | 31.90% | 24,643 | 9.54% | 6,109 | 2.36% | 62,768 | 24.30% | 258,386 |
| Monmouth | 120,414 | 48.37% | 99,975 | 40.16% | 22,754 | 9.14% | 5,818 | 2.34% | 20,439 | 8.21% | 248,961 |
| Morris | 81,092 | 41.43% | 95,830 | 48.96% | 15,299 | 7.82% | 3,524 | 1.80% | -14,738 | -7.53% | 195,745 |
| Ocean | 94,243 | 46.43% | 82,830 | 40.81% | 22,864 | 11.26% | 3,039 | 1.50% | 11,413 | 5.62% | 202,976 |
| Passaic | 85,879 | 56.15% | 53,594 | 35.04% | 10,944 | 7.16% | 2,534 | 1.66% | 32,285 | 21.11% | 152,951 |
| Salem | 12,044 | 46.34% | 9,294 | 35.76% | 4,124 | 15.87% | 530 | 2.04% | 2,750 | 10.58% | 25,992 |
| Somerset | 50,673 | 44.87% | 51,869 | 45.93% | 8,377 | 7.42% | 2,010 | 1.78% | -1,196 | -1.06% | 112,929 |
| Sussex | 19,525 | 36.04% | 26,746 | 49.36% | 6,705 | 12.37% | 1,207 | 2.23% | -7,221 | -13.32% | 54,183 |
| Union | 108,102 | 56.82% | 65,912 | 34.65% | 12,432 | 6.53% | 3,795 | 1.99% | 42,190 | 22.17% | 190,241 |
| Warren | 14,805 | 39.27% | 17,160 | 45.52% | 4,992 | 13.24% | 744 | 1.97% | -2,355 | -6.25% | 37,701 |
| Totals | 1,652,329 | 53.72% | 1,103,078 | 35.86% | 262,134 | 8.52% | 58,266 | 1.89% | 549,251 | 17.86% | 3,075,807 |
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